The Promise
by Bluemoon375
Summary: He had promised her that he would come over, that he would show up, that he would be there for her. Yet there she sat, alone and heartbroken. Just how much did one simple promise mean to her?


_Tick tock, tick tock_

 _Tap, tap, tap, tap_

The Witch Princess's tapping of her fingers on the table kept in rhythm with the clock on the wall as it continued to sound off each passing second. To anyone else it was an afternoon just like any other, but to her it meant something else.

Something special. Something important.

 **Ding…! Ding…! Ding…!**

The clock's chime began to echo throughout the small room she called a house as it ushered in the new hour. The Witch Princess gaze drifted towards the window to her side and began to follow the visible path into the trees. The gentle breeze brushed aside the deeper branches of the trail but their movement reveled nothing of significance to her.

She returned her view back inside as she hung her head down towards the table, bringing her hands into her lap. "Why isn't he here yet?"

" _It's getting pretty late, I should probably head out…"_

" _Do you have to leave so soon? It feels like you only just got here."_

" _I have to, it's probably going to start to snow soon and I have to be sure to feed Betsy tonight."_

…

" _Wait a second Mark."_

" _What is it?"_

" _I know you usually don't come visit that often but… I was wondering…_

" _Wondering what?"_

" _If… if maybe you wouldn't mind coming over again… tomorrow?"_

…

" _I ge-"_

" _Sure. I think I can afford some time to stop by. Any reason particular reason?"_

" _Oh, really? Well… it's nothing… nothing at all… no reason"_

" _Any particular time?"_

" _I guess around noon. I don't want to take up too much of your time."_

" _Alright, noon it is."_

" _Really? Do you promise?"_

" _I promise."_

Yet her she was, three in the afternoon the next day

Alone

She stood up from her seat at the table and walked up to the window, placing her hand against the glass as she hoped to get a better view.

 _Tick tock, tick tock_

No one.

She returned to the table and gently picked up the plate situated by the seat across from her. The now-likely cold rainbow curry covering it barely moved as she circled the plate around in her hand. Being a witch she was never really one to cook her own food when she could simply whisk it into existence as she pleased by this was a special occasion, and a special occasion required a handmade touch. She looked over at her neatly ordered bear collection as she set the plate down. The house had been cleaned, the books organized, and even most of the lights lit for once, yet without her special guest her efforts to make the day special were going to waste.

 _Tick tock, tick tock_

* * *

 **Ding…! Ding…! Ding…! Ding…! Ding…!**

The Witch Princess's eyes fluttered open at the sound of the clock ringing out once more. Stretching out her arms from under her cloak, she looked out the window and saw that while some dark clouds had arrived in the sky Mark still had not.

She couldn't believe it. He had promised her that he would have arrived five hours ago but still not a trace was to be seen. She was heartbroken.

Granted, she was no stranger to the idea that a human would have no problem deceiving a witch, after all she was supposed to be a great force of evil, but Mark was a different case. Where others would run from her, he stayed. Where others were quick to point angry fingers, he was ready to take them for her.

" _You got a lot of explaining to do!" The crowd of angry islanders yelled as they surrounded the door to her cottage._

 _Never one to pass up a chance for mischief, the Witch Princess had taken to adding a poisoned mushroom to the town's potluck soup and those that still felt well enough to protest were taking it… as expected._

" _Explaining?" She questioned as she tilted her head down and ironically fluttered her eyelashes innocently. "For what?"_

 _The crowd was basically fuming at that point._ _"For what? Try poisoning all of us!"_

" _Oh come now, can't a witch have a little fun?" She laughed._

" _You think it's funny putting poisonous mushrooms in our food?" Taro asked as he angrily shook his cane in the air from the back of the crowd._

" _Yah, someone could have gotten seriously hurt!" Mirabella shouted._

" _What? Can't joke?" The Witch Princess asked._

 _Natalie pulled up her sleeve and began to stomp up towards her. "_ _I'll show you a Joke!"_

" _Hey, come on guys, leave her alone." Mark said as he rather quickly emerged from the crowd and walked up in front of the Witch Princess._

" _What? Are you gonna defend her?" Natalie asked, crossing her arms._

" _I mean she didn't do anything too extreme." He said, right before gripping his stomach with a slight wince. "She just… got us a little sick… that's all."_

 _They didn't budge._

" _Beside," He began as he looked back at her and then back at the crowd. "It's not like anyone can do anything about it."_

" _We'll see about that!" Natalie shouted._

 _Mark tried his best to Natalie and the rest of the crowd a serious look to try and scare them off. While she did halt for a moment it wasn't Mark that stopped her but rather the Witch Princess's sinister glowing eyes. Soon, her and the rest of the villagers dispersed and retreated back towards town with audible moans._

" _Are you alright?" Mark asked as he turned to face the Witch Princess._

" _I'm fine of course." She replied. "Never better."_

" _Good to hear."_

" _You know you didn't have to do that. It's not like they would have seriously tried anything." She told him. "Or at least anything that would have worked."_

 _He shrugged awkwardly. "Yeah, well… I don't know. I guess… I wanted to be sure you were gonna, I don't know, be safe?"_

 _She smiled and laughed, placing her hand on his shoulder._ " _You should probably go home and rest, you know, now that I'm safe and all."_

" _Yeah, I probably should." He said, once more gripping his stomach "Guess I'll see you when I'm better."_

 _Tick tock, tick tock_

Feeling as though the clock was essentially mocking her at this point with its constant ticking the Witch Princess stood up from her seat and marched towards the door. If Mark wasn't going to come to her then she would come to him. Outside, the gloomy clouds that sat above her as she made her way down the forest trail seemed to reflect her mood. They were dark and ready to possibly unleash a major storm.

* * *

The lights of Mark's small farm house were off when she finally arrived minutes later leading her to the barn that sat behind it. Opening its large wooden doors, she peered inside to only find Mark's prized cow Betsy sleeping in front of her empty feed box. She hung her head down in defeat as she shut the door, a chilling wind blowing past her. At this point all she wanted to do was find Mark so he could explain why he had failed to show up.

The town down south seemed strangely quiet as she passed through. She suspected it was likely due to her very presence, something that wouldn't surprise her as much as it hurt, but then a thought occurred to her.

Could a festival be going on today?

Turning on her heels, she began to head in opposite direction towards the festival square when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. Looking over in the direction of the animal shop she saw what appeared to be Mark and stopped in her tracks.

Inside, Mark backed up against the wall of the visible room as Julia creeped up to him with a seductive look on her face. Her finger was pressed up against his chest as she twirled it around while appearing to say something to him. The Witch Princess then watched from in front of the window as Mark began to blush violently and nervously rub the back of his head. And that's when Julia began to kiss him.

"W-what…?" The Witch Princess asked in confusion as she formed a fist with her hand and gently banged it against the window.

Though it wasn't her intention it seemed to attract Mark's attention.

His eyes wandered over to direction of the window and as soon as he seemed to notice her he looked back at Julia and placed his arms around her. Before anything else could occur the Witch Princess ran from her spot at the window and off into the direction of her house. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and fell just as the snow began to as well.

When she returned to her house she slammed the door shut before rushing to her desk.

"How? How could he do this to me?" She cried. "How could… how could he just ditch me for that… hussy?"

Just like that her feelings of sadness were soon overtaken by a great sense of anger, no doubt generated by the pain she now felt in her heart.

"I'll…I'll show him!" She shouted. She walked up to her shelf and began to pull a random assortment of potions and ingredients off it. "You… you'll see what happens when you make promises you can't keep!"

 _Tick tock, tick tock_

She spread her collection out on the desk and began to violently mix them together.

"You'll regret messing with me Mark!"

 _Tick tock, tick tock_

"I… I… I hate you!"

 _ **Tick tock! Tick tock!**_

Whether her intention with this concoction was to harm or kill him she didn't know. All she knew is that, being a witch, it was guaranteed to be harmful.

"You'll rue this day!"

 **Tick**

 **Tock**

"You'll…"

 **Tick**

She sniffled. "You'll…"

 **TOCK**

"Will you shut up!" She screamed as she quickly turned and threw the glass container in her hands across the room and at the clock shattering it, the resulting mess just barley grazing one of her teddy bears that sat beneath it.

She breathed heavily as she stared at the bear in anger for a moment before her mood switched back to that of intense sadness. Slowly, she walked up to the bear and picked it up before brushing off some of the discolored liquid that laid near its eye. It was the one her mother had made her when she was a child and the only memory she had of left her. She held it against her chest as she fell to her knees and began to resume crying as her mother's words began to fill her head.

" _Never forget, I will always love you… No matter what…"_

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by a loud series of knocks at the door.

"Witch Princess! Are you in there?"

It was Mark.

"Go away!" She screamed.

He knocked again "Witch Prin…"

"I said go away!" She shouted as she continued to cry. "I-I don't want to s-see you anymore!"

"Just let me explain, please!" He begged.

She clutched the bear in her arms tighter. "No! Now leave or… or I'll turn you into a frog! Or something…"

"Is it really that bad?" He asked. "Are you really this upset that I didn't come over?"

She remained silent.

"I thought you just wanted to see me again? Why does it seem to matter so much to you?" He asked.

"You… you think today was just some normal visit?" She yelled in anger.

"Well what is it today then?" He asked. "There's no festivals today, and you said it yourself that there was nothing important today…"

His words, those last one in particular, stung like an arrow piercing her already damaged heart.

"You… you think nothing happens today?" She yelled.

He paused. "Yeah…?"

"You want to know what's today?" She shouted.

"What is it?" He asked.

"You wanna know?" She asked again.

"Today…" She began.

"…"

"T-today…"

He banged his fist on the door, almost enough to frighten her. "Out with it!"

She gripped the bear as hard as she could before raising her head as if to scream to the Goddess herself. "Today was my birthday!"

Mark imminently backed away from the door in shock. She had never once brought up her birthday to him during the entire course of their friendship. How was he supposed to know? He could only image how hurt she must have been feeling then.

"I… I thought I could trust you…" The Witch Princess spoke quietly as she wiped away her tears, not really caring if he heard her or not.

A light tap came from the door. "Are, are you okay in there…? I… I had no idea… you've never brought it up before and…" Mark fell silent for a moment. He really had no clue what to say. He pressed his ear up closer to the door and could barely make out the sound of her still crying.

"I'm sorry." He said as he took a small step away from the door. "I really am."

"…"

"If you wanna talk… I'll be right here." He told her through the door as he began to slide down the wall next to it and onto the ground. "Just please," He began in a much quieter voice. "Give me a chance to explain."

For what felt like the longest moment of his life Mark constantly shifted his view between the door beside him and the ground in front of him, waiting for some kind of response. He didn't really care that it seemed like time was moving slow though. He was determined to wait as long as it took for her to come out, the weight he now felt in his heart was practically keeping him down.

He just hoped it wouldn't take too long though seeing as the snow began to soon pick up.

Eventually, not to long after he sat down a click was heard from the door and quickly stood up as it opened to reveal the Witch Princess. Her iron grip was still around the bear as she looked down at her feet.

"I… I'm sorry." Mark began sincerely. "I… I didn't know..."

The Witch Princess offered no response and silently stepped aside allowing him in, refusing to make eye contact. Upon entering he immediately took notice of the food set upon the table and walked over to it.

"You made us lunch?" Mark asked quietly.

"Handmade and all…" The Witch Princess replied just as quietly from her spot at the door.

* * *

Despite how cold the rainbow curry was at this point Mark didn't dare to utter a word about it to the Witch Princess who was still clutching the bear even as they ate. His gaze occasionally drifted across to her but she refused to look back.

He hung his head down and set his fork on the table. "I'm sorry alright."

"You promised me Mark… you promised that you'd be here." The Witch Princess replied without shifting her position.

"I... I know I did." Was all he could come up with.

"Then why didn't you come?" She asked in an upset tone as she finally looked up at him. "Why did you decide to go and hurt me like that?"

"I didn't mean to." He answered.

She clutched the bear and dropped her head back down. "I never thought that you'd be one to go and hurt me like that Mark. Maybe the other islanders but not you… I thought you were my friend."

"But I am your friend." He nearly shouted.

"Then why did you tell me you'd be here? Why? Why did you go and make a promise you couldn't keep?" She asked as she looked back up at him.

He simply looked away at the ground.

"My mother made this bear for me... when I was little," The Witch Princess began as she brought it closer to her chest. "She told me that she'd never stop loving me… no matter what… and I'd always be her daughter…"

Mark looked back up attentively.

"She ended up lying to me too…" She finished.

"What… what do you mean?" He asked.

"I wasn't always a witch Mark." She began to explain. "I used to be a normal girl with a loving and caring family. But then one day my mother went out and bought me an amulet she found at a strange bazaar. It… changed me… One day I was normal and then the next I had the power to start levitating things with just a wave of my hand… My parents tried everything they could to reverse whatever curse had been placed on me but nothing worked, not even tossing away the amulet… the damage was done…"

Mark remained silent.

"My parents refused to even look at me after that. They didn't want some sort of… _freak_ as a daughter so eventually… they decided to get rid of me…" She continued. "One day they took me out to a nearby forest…" He could her as she began to quietly cry again." They said we were going to go for a walk… and then… and then… and then they just left me there… alone… This bear… this bear is all I have left to remember them by."

Mark stared at her in disbelief for a moment. "I…"

"Do you know what it's like to be me Mark?" She interrupted, fresh tears forming in her eyes. "Do you know what it's like to go your whole life without a single person to care about you? Let alone a single friend?"

"That's not true." He argued. "I care about you!"

"I thought you did too… at least until I learned that you'd rather go and be with Julia instead of fulfilling your promise to me." She replied, hugging the bear tighter.

"You don't understand, it's not my fault I was at her house for so long." He told her.

She simply looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I left my house to be over at noon, just like you asked, when Julia stopped me." He began. "She told me she needed some help moving some boxes of animal feed over at her house so I went to help thinking it'd be a quick job. When I was done I tried to head over here but she kept asking me to help her. I wanted to leave so I could be here on time, honest, but she wouldn't let me."

"Then why did I see you kissing her?" She asked.

"It eventually got to the point where I told her that I was going to leave even if there was still work to do and then that's when she decided to start coming on to me." He explained. "She told me that she always did have a crush on me and then she backed me up against the wall and kissed me."

Based on her expression it seemed like the Witch Princess was beginning to believe him. "Then… then why did you place your arms around her when you saw me?"

"I wasn't. When I saw you watching from outside I place my hands on her to push her away. She asked me what was wrong and I that's when I finally told her about you. She tried to convince me that you weren't worth my time and that I should just forget about you. She said that since you're a witch you were probably planning on hurting me or worse but I knew she was lying." His tone became much more excitable. "I know you better than that, that isn't like you."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I know that's not you. I know you would never try to hurt me and actually mean it. I tried to convince her that you weren't like that but she refused to believe me. I basically told her to take a hike after that and then stormed out to run after you." He finished before sinking into his chair. "I guess I failed to do the same when I just ended up hurting you huh?"

A small smile began to form on the Witch Princess's face. "You… you stood up for me like that? T-thank you, it… means a lot… that you could do that for me.

He began to slightly blush. "Y-yeah, I mean, it's really no problem. I-I mean, nobody o-on this island really knows how I… feel about you…" He paused. "N-not even you."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I… I like you… a lot…" He nervously said. "And not matter what I'm going to make sure no one on this island changes that."

For the first time all day the Witch Princess had a real smile on her face. "Really? Do you promise?"

"I promise."


End file.
